The Tale of The Scarlet Specter
by NewJesus
Summary: Arkos Fairytale AU. Jaune is serving as the squire to sir Cardin, who is on his way to marry the beautiful princess Pyrrha. While stopping by a tavern, they learn of a specter that secretly stalks the royal family and while that is enough to scare Cardin, Jaune is furious to learn of this injustice. Defying his master and perhaps even his fate, he sets out to make things right!
1. Jaune Becomes the Ignorant

Under a heatless sun, far away from a place they could call home, two silhouettes on equestrian beasts followed the beaten path. The dirt beneath them was colorless pebble, rinsed by the scorching heat and ground smooth by the many thousand feet and hooves which had already passed along. As their dark contours cut through the horizon, their resolve was aimed steadily at some distant peak. From atop his horse, one man led the way. Large and fitted in a dented armor, his name was given to him by his ancestors. Sir Cardin of the Winchester House. Behind him on a mule followed a much smaller man fitted in a dusty cloak, his name was given to him by his family. Jaune DeArc. The wide landscaped which encapsulated them was quiet like an empty theatre and fit to be filled with the voluminous voice of the knight.

"The king's envoys arrived yesterday with the proposal; however, I had been expecting them for a while. I doubt a more suitable or beneficial match exist. Just looking at the portrait they brought with them makes it clear that princess Pyrrha is superior to any other maid in this country, and only in matrimony will she find an equal partner in her soon to be husband. A fair complexion, long red hair, green eyes and so on. There are of course things a painter knows how to hide, but we'll see for ourselves soon enough." Cardin exclaimed loudly as he steadfastly rode against the horizon. "Though, I suppose soon might not be the right word."

Listening while carefully repressing any retort, Jaune focused on polishing his master's sword. Cleaning the blade diligently, until he could see his own wry smile reflected in the silver. The mule beneath him occasionally letting out a resilient yawn was all that could be added to the conversation from his part.

"later. Perhaps sometime this year. Before the wedding hopefully."

Jaune trailed his finger along the edge. A fine inscription had been chiseled into the metal, so delicate it remained invisible until sunlight filled the blade with a radiant luster. Through bright glimmering letters, the message revealed to him; Virtue is Strength made feeble by judgment.

"If I had known you were just going to be a rock chained to my legs, I would have pushed you off that cliff where I found you a long time ago."

Jaune looked up to see his master had stopped.

"I'm sorry sir, it's just difficult to go at your pace while preparing your weapon for the ceremony as well."

"HA! The Lord knows I am the one who is truly sorry for having taken in such a useless servant. Perhaps after the wedding, you should look for hire in the kitchen, as something like a potato peeler or a dish washer as you will most likely in all future be utterly superfluous to me."

Cardin gave his horse a light kick and then continued head on while Jaune placed the sword back in the satchel and followed him.

"Perhaps time would seem to pass quicker if you could tell me about princess Pyrrha?"

"I just did! Her mother, the queen, is dead. She is the only child of his majesty the king and will soon be my bride. Now, quit your dawdling and hurry up."

"But is that really all? You have only seen the portrait sent by the king and you've already decided to take her as your wife?"

"Don't worry boy." Cardin turned around to give Jaune one last sneering look. "I know how to put a woman to good use."

Jaune had the resolve necessary to remain silent, but he did not like it. He looked at his master as he always had, now with a regret for the lack of change. Virtue is Strength made feeble by judgment. It had been carved as a message to be passed down, but he could not tell if it was a puzzle or a prayer. The meaning now seemed lost and forgotten, buried beneath the sand.

They continued to move across the barren moor, Cardin only occasionally thinking of slowing down to accommodate Jaune's short-legged steed. However, a much more pressing interlope for their journey was the imminent passing of the day. Dark orange hues colored a landscape that was already desolate and torrid, and darkness would soon replace what array of light was embedded into the dunes.

"I'm very sorry sir, but perhaps if we took a quick rest for the night we would have time to catch up? We would arrive in the morning with replenished energy and you would be ready to greet your betrothed immediately." Jaune suggested, making a desperate attempt to keep up.

"There is nothing I would hate more, but I can also easily imagine how someone like you would get lost in the darkness." He stopped for a moment to survey the landscape until he noticed distant smoke rising into the sky. "The Wounded Bear would be the last inn before we arrive in the city, so we better stop there for tonight."

Twilight dissolved into the bleak firmament as they hurried across the dusty road, and faint stars were already visible when they arrived at the windblown cottage. Timbered patterns adorned a rustic façade with only small black windows eschewing the symmetry. Jaune took the horses into the stable while Cardin dealt with the innkeeper. It took some time until he managed to bargain his way to a fair deal, but then the accommodations for the night were at least secured.

When Jaune returned inside the tavern, he found Cardin surrounded by several other wayfarers of various repute. Seated around a massive oak table with cups and mugs lined around. Antique beer steins carved with noble crests but deigned to serve their fill was handed to all men partaking in the ritual. Amongst them, Cardin wanted to announce his own enjoyment by laughing and howling the loudest. In one gulp he managed to finish his second beer and wild applause erupted amongst his new friends.

"There you are, boy! I was starting to wonder why a man would need to spend such a long time alone with a horse."

Everyone at the table roared with laughter, even those still stable enough to understand the joke.

"Well, while you did whatever you did out there, I got you food that's edible and a haystack you can sleep in. Now, I know you're not used to those kinds of gifts, but that is what genuine hospitality looks like."

Jaune was about to muster a heartfelt thanks to his generous master, but then an older gentleman who had been lurking in the shadows suddenly stepped forward.

"I'm very sorry my good man, but we don't see that many noblemen, such as yourself, around these parts. I was curious about what business has made you venture into these lands?"

"Well, what it is, is my business and certainly not your business," Cardin said while more beer was being poured into his cup. "But as I am about to be your king, I might as well tell you that I have been selected to marry the king's daughter and gain the legacy of this kingdom as dowry."

Suddenly, all noise in the little tavern dispersed instantly. Laughter, screaming, crying, everything stopped. His small gathering seemed to awake from the thrall of camaraderie and now looked terrified at the man beside them. Even from distant tables hidden in the alcoves, private conversations ended, and foreign eyes now peered at the knight who remained only lightly troubled by this development.

"So, will you attempt to challenge the specter then?" The old man continued.

"What specter? There isn't any specter." Cardin answered, now more visibly disturbed.

Murmurs echoed sporadically in the small room. "He does not know", followed by "he has not heard" and concluded with "the scarlet specter will be coming for him soon" was whispered all around.

"My noble lord, there is a nefarious specter guarding the young princess. Many young men have come to woe her, but they all ended up defeated and driven from his majesties castle by this elusive fiend. This demon praying on any man that sets foot in court with any matrimonial considerations."

"Is that really so?"

"It is really so." The old man nodded, and Cardin's comrades nodded along and the whole inn agreed with confident nods.

"Well, nobody told me anything about a bloody fiend!" Cardin then bellowed. He got up with a jolt, spilling half his beer all over the table. "That's it. I'm not going. I'm not risking life or health for any royal damsel, regardless of kingdom or titles. Have at it herself, I'll be home by morning."

Jaune immediately pushed aside the old man and leaped across the table, facing his master with unfamiliar bravura.

"Why? Didn't you hear? Some demon has possessed the princess and you want to go home now? You're a knight with sworn duties to uphold! You must protect the weak, defend the crown and, most importantly, care for your wife who is probably suffering immense pain from this ghoul right now-"

"My wife you say, boy?" Cardin reached out with his large hands and pulled his squire even closer to him. Leaving him only inches away from his bloodshot eyes that seemed to throb to the beat of his voice. "She is certainly not my wife. Never was and now never will be. If some demon has taken her, then it can keep her. Being a knight doesn't mean to confront otherworldly spectacles, and I'll kick the shingles off anyone who says otherwise."

Cardin then dropped Jaune again as he turned his attention towards the barmaids serving the opposite table. "Now, let's see if I can't find a way to be compensated for this great waste of time it has taken us to arrive here in the first place."

Jaune, left dazzled and perturbed by the will of his master, was ultimately not surprised by any of this. He stumbled back unto his legs, as Cardin went to put a much gentler hand against a passing serving girl. This kind gesture being reciprocated with one quick left hook to the chin that sent him flying across the room with a howl that sounded like a donkey in heat.

When Cardin finally hit the wall at the back end of the room, a couple other girls had joined the indignant waitress and were now ready to properly requite his offense. While unsuitable and distasteful violence now blossomed in the little barroom, Jaune had in the meantime returned to the old man, who had somehow managed to fall asleep in his chair. The little corner he had kept to himself was dimly illuminated by a half-burnt candle, which finely projected all the cobwebs hanging above him in fragmented patterns.

Jaune took what remained of his master's beer, and sat it next to the man, who immediately awoken by the sound of the mug hitting the table.

"That's very kind of you stranger. I was just going to pick up a cup myself, but the walk all the way to the counter is such a long and strenuous journey for such an old man as myself." Then he took the cup and downed it all with a vigor that could match Cardin's at his most depraved state. "But I suppose you must be the one who has done the most strenuous wandering? Having traveled for so long just to end up here and soon to be going back again."

"I don't know if you can say that, Mr.- "

"Ozpin."

"Mr. Ozpin. I don't know if you can say that. I have traveled for a long time with my master, seen much but done very little."

"That sounds very much like a strenuous journey. I don't just know it; I can see it as well."

"please." Jaune took a seat opposite Ozpin, looking earnestly at the old man. "That thing you mentioned about princess Pyrrha. I have heard of phantoms and ghosts before, but never actually met any… Is there really something unholy living in his majesties castle?"

"Well, I have never been engaged to the young lady myself, so I can't give you a firsthand description, but many dejected suitors have traveled past this place, so I think I can safely say to have heard all the stories. Stories about a red, crimson, scarlet specter. A mystic being lurking the hallways, a living shadow with eyes glaring with the flames of hades. An expert marksman, an advanced strategist, a supreme duelist. It lures you out at night, and then promptly challenges you to fight with the tip of its saber pointed straight at your neck."

As Ozpin pointed his own finger at him while finishing the last part, Jaune could feel a cold chill move down his spine. The feeling subsided into him and formed a new synthesis, as it reached an unfamiliar burning deep down inside of him. A fervent heat that was slowly evolving, changing.

"And then what happens?"

"you lose. There is no man with the ability to match the specter, so you either surrender or die. All those who tried to woe the princess has been met with this fate, and all those who had met with this fate have given up the princess." Ozpin then took up the cup again, just as Cardin tripped over the table with one excellent three-foot dunk. Everything scrambling down to the floor, with a bruised Cardin in the center of the mess. The knight did not even get a moment to whinge about his wounds, as he was soon dragged out into the crowd again by two more girls having joined the slaughter.

"Good thing too, I was done with this anyway". Ozpin said as he threw his cup down to the floor as well. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience. The king has done much to contain the rumors, though, to my mind, such actions only validate the truth of the matter. I hope you can go home now and tell your family and your kin about the horrible travesty that plagues the royal family, so no one will ever again be duped by lofty promises of princess and kingdom."

Jaune was about to thank the man for his warning, but his thoughts were suddenly leaping into distant tangents. By his mere words he could already see the princess, so different from her picture and the demon as well... As he finally started to get a grip of the situation he found his voice had been rendered soft and hushed.

"Yes, thank you very much, sir. You're much too kind." Jaune then bid farewell to the old man and went to look after the remains of his master.

Cardin was found disheveled, unconscious and totally beaten in a dark corner in the far end of the room. Someone had attempted to stuff him into a trashcan, but the result was just more garbage everywhere. Not really knowing the appropriate way to clean all this up, Jaune decided to just drag his master to his room. On the way up the stairs, Jaune turned towards Ozpin one final time and saw he had already fallen asleep again in his chair. The innkeeper silently sweeping up the mess below him, and quietly putting the table back up.

Jaune figured now it was time to move on, even if he had to be alone.

The crude knight had never been an easy burden to bear, especially not when such a phrase was to be taken literally. Jaune had tried to get used to these circumstances for about five years now, but it never seemed like his aversion to this fate would settle.

Going up one step at the time, passing door by door until he finally reached the quarters rented for the night. Only gurgles and the occasional yawn was heard from Cardin, otherwise, everything was left up to himself. He pushed, carried and shoved him around until Cardin's body was finally resting in the bed. As his duty had been fulfilled, the noble knight for once looked to be in tranquility.

His brown hair wavered on a sharp and dented brow, above a square face with cold hazel eyes. As a man he was made so different from himself. Jaune let his hand run through his own greasy blond hair, brushing away what dust had settled unto him while his eyes surveyed the room. Carefully studying the sparse interior, only a simple bed and a large closet was given as furniture.

Jaune knew he was soon going to find the haystack for tonight, and then prepare for even more hours on the back of the mule listening to his master, meanwhile, some princess was in the clusters of some demon specter. Alone. Alone and with no one to count on, and no one to believe in. The fair daughter of the king was condemned to live in solitude with a monster, and tomorrow she would be abandoned by yet another suitor.

Next to the closet rested the silver blade of his master. Virtue is Strength made feeble by judgment. He took it out of the satchel, inspected it thoroughly, but the light was too dim to make the letters appear. Yet, holding the cold weapon in his hands filled him with a mysterious awe. He felt it so unlikely that a blade like this had been made so long ago by a man that looked so much like his master.

Holding the sword made him realize that he had already decided what to do a long time ago. Perhaps he had always known, but it did not matter before he acted. Did his duty, the duty being what was necessary, for honor, for glory, for the king and to save the beautiful and fair princess.

His master was still sleeping heavier than a mortar brick when he made the preparation, and then when the darkness finally covered each and every tree and sapling, he rode out with a single lantern guiding his way. On horseback and armed with a single sword, this ghostly shape traversed the land with unrecognized speed. So fast that when the sun finally crept above the horizon again, the first long shadows of the castle walls already reached his lone figure.


	2. The Conspiracy of the Innocent

Authority worked differently in the countryside than in the big cities. It was, for example, custom for the most high-ranking member of staff to get up earlier than everyone else. No prerogative for idle souls were given to those who wanted to survive, and such were the condition given for profit despite adversity. It was the daily routine as well in The Wounded Bear, so Kali, the wife of the proprietor Ghira and mother of Blake, had been up at the crack of dawn for nearly a decade. Most of her husband's more beneficial contributions to the daily labor had been rendered somewhat dull after he returned from the war, so she was left to command the staff as she deemed necessary. While the young maids in her care slowly began cleaning up the mess from yesterday, she had granted one privilege to a recent newcomer.

"Ruby my dear, will you be done soon?" Kali called from the kitchen.

"Hold on, I just have to finish this letter to my sister."

While it was still early, there was still no time to be wasted. Before the guests came down, breakfast had to be prepared, the tables needed to be decked and the outhouse should probably be cleaned soon. Even before all that, Ruby hoped she would have time to write home before the postman arrived. She had prepared the quill and ink, equipment she was not used to, but it was practice as well as performance. Ready she sat in the dining hall, jotting down all manners of strange misadventures she had encountered on the plains far from home.

"Coco! Was it necessary to trash this guy through the wall? I'm pretty sure that was a supporting pillar as well…" Blake called rather annoyed, as she was currently in charge of cleaning up yesterday's mess.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure that pillar has been trashed before. Perhaps even several times. Since it doesn't go out of my paycheck, I don't really tend to keep track." Coco said while carefully avoiding facing Blake, as she was pretty sure her yellow irises could spark rays of malice when provoked madly enough. "You know how men have so many difficulties comprehending negatives. Sometimes you just need to tell them no in a manner they will understand."

Ruby giggled, wrote down a few more lines and then went back to thinking. "So, this… knight, Cardin of the Winchester house, he will be going home now instead of continuing his journey to marry princess Pyrrha? Yes?"

"I'm not sure where he is going, but he'll have to go there with at least two broken legs and a fractured pelvis." Coco laughed loudly.

"I overheard him yesterday darling." Kali poked her head out again. "Very loud and clear even. He proclaimed he was not going to marry a cursed dame and that he was going to kick the hinges of anyone who says otherwise."

"Was that really his exact words, mom?" Blake injected.

"Well, of course, I would have to adjust the language in the presence of those young and of impressionable minds."

"HEY! I'm not a child anymore if that's what you mean." Ruby pouted, unsure if that was what she actually really meant.

"No, no, no, of course not." Kali immediately hurried out of the kitchen to scoop up the girl into her arms.

"I, for one, feel very fortunate to actually have another adult to help me out around here." Ruby giggled even louder now Kali had found a new victim to project her excesses of motherly love on. "And Coco, if you don't have any more chores to do in here, could you go out in the kitchen and start the fire for the gruel?"

"Wasn't that supposed to be Ruby's job?" Coco replied.

"Yes, but Ruby has to hurry and finish her letter soon, and you don't look like to be doing anything more important."

"Alright fine, but I'm gonna pull an early lunch break then."

"In your dreams." Kali scuffed.

Ruby returned to her letter but soon found Blake hovering behind her.

"I'm sure your sister appreciates all these letters. As captain of the royal guard, she probably has lots of worries, so at least she will always know you're well out here."

"Oh, there aren't many troubles going on right now, so she got plenty of free time to relax. She often says my letters are her only diversion between training the new recruits and pampering the king."

"Really? She isn't getting worked up about a certain specter that seems to be terrorizing the whole court?" Kali interrupted, having joined Blake as a spectator to Ruby's scraggly handwriting.

"oh yes, yes, but the specter is an elusive entity- it disappears and reappears; it's everywhere it wants to go- there is simply no way to get rid of it- suddenly it's there before your very eyes then it's not- it's a mystery to us all, but my sister is doing her very best, that's one thing I'm sure off."

"To catch the specter?" Blake asked.

"Yes." Ruby solidified this conclusion with one confident nod.

"Morning girls, is breakfast ready yet?"

With a startled yelp, Ruby almost crossed a large inkblot through the entire paper. All girls turned around and saw Ozpin heading down the stairs.

"It'll just be a second Mr. Ozpin; we're having essay classes first today," Coco answered while carrying a large cauldron into the dining hall.

"Oh, I see you're writing back home to miss Yang? How thoughtful." Ozpin remarked cheerfully. "Which reminds me… what happened to that feisty fellow from yesterday? The small blond one. Oh, what's his name?"

"Oh, the cute one? Yeah, I can't really remember, I thought he was sleeping upstairs though." Coco said, the coy undertones prompted Ruby to poke out her tongue at her, but Ozpin did not take notice of either.

"No, I remember he went out to the stables late last night. Quite odd. What was he called again? I swear it's just on the tip of my tongue…"

**"JAAAAAAUUUUUUUNEEEE!"**

A roar, a thundering blast, a gale of proportions that could blow apart the whole house was exuded from somewhere upstairs. A loud masculine voice bellowed with a force that rattled the shudders, shuck the cutlery and made Ruby's pen turn an otherwise perfect "k" into an elongated "Æ".

"Ah yes, Jaune. He did tell me so that dear fellow." Ozpin muttered with satisfied vigor.

Then Kali, who had gone to the well outside to fetch more water, suddenly came running back inside. "RUBY! Hurry and finish up, the mailman is here!" She yelled while waving her arms at the door.

"Oh jeez." Ruby hurried to put down her last love and kisses before blotting out the ink and sealing it in an envelope. First checking everything was in order, everything sealed and stamped correctly, then going out to greet the man in the regal grey uniform waiting on the porch.

**"WHERE IS HE- WHERE IS HE- WHERE IS HE- WHERE IS HE- "** A greatly distressed Cardin came running down the stairs, almost tripping over the hems of his trousers as he was simultaneously getting dressed as he was hysterically shouting and running around.

"Who? The cute boy?" Ozpin asked.

"Cute? He's my boy, that's what he is! And now he's nowhere to be found, neither is my sword, neither is my documents, **NEITHER**** IS MY ****ROYAL** **INSIGNIA!****"**

"Did you remember to check where you last saw them?"

The imminent meltdown of Cardin, even though it seemed ever more likely by the second, was quickly diffused by the entrance of a third man. Much larger than Cardin, enormous compared to Ozpin, his looming shadow filled almost the entire room.

"Gentleman, could you keep it down? Most of our guests are still sleeping upstairs."

"Good morning, Ghira my dear, did you sleep well last night?" Kali said as she went by to give the large man a peck on the cheek.

"As usual, but what is this ruckus I'm waking up to?"

"Seems like the guest from last night, the Winchester knight, has lost some of his stuff."

**"MY REGALIA!"** Cardin shouted.

"Well, did he remember to check where he last saw them?" Ghira suggested as Ozpin nodded approvingly.

The imminent meltdown seemed in this moment the most imminent, but a further delay was caused by the intrusion of the postman himself.

"I thought I heard something- is that you Mr. Ghira? Good to see you up this early, we can't have you sleeping up till noon every day. Just think of all the letters you will miss!" This was a joke that only made Kali laugh, while Blake rolled her eyes and Ghira grunted. "We'll need for you to sign this receipt for your delivery, you see."

"Ah, fresh meat! finally!" This news did inject some cheerfulness back into his spirit, but as he went up to sign the documents, the postman was suddenly and very violently pushed aside by Cardin who marched out the door while chanting incoherently about horses. A quiet wish eloped from everyone that he would never return, again.

Many different guests came to The Wounded Bear, and so many different animals were accommodated in the stable. Small donkeys packed with huge parcels full of trader goods, athletic horses that could run for miles on end, but for Cardin, there was only one animal he really cared for and it was not there. Instead, one single mule stared drowsily back at him. Its head nestled peacefully against the ground, and overall not paying much attention to his mad ravings.

Ruby, curious as she was, had followed him into the barn and now hesitantly considered what she should say until finally. "Can I help you with something?" slipped quietly from her mouth.

"Oh? Help me with something? You must excuse me if I suddenly burst out laughing, for my situation is abysmal and there is absolutely nothing a poor serving girl such as yourself can help me with!" Cardin emphasized this with a burst of fake laughter that sounded insane. "For, you see, my squire, the right honorable and ever so **dEVOTEd** Jaune DeArc have absconded from my service and taken with him all my personal belongings!"

"What? The cute- I mean the blond boy from yesterday has taken your stuff! That's horrible! Why would he do something like that?"

**"WHY? HE'S GOING TO CHALLENGE THE SPECTER!"** Cardin screamed.

**"What!"** Ruby screamed back at him, then ran back to the cottage where Ghira was standing on the porch. "Mr. Ghira! Is the postman still here? I have an urgent post scriptum to add!"

"I'm sorry, he just left. You'll have to wait till tomorrow."

"oh, rats…" Ruby grumbled, then behind Ghira, Coco suddenly appeared with a plate of bread in her hands.

"Ruby, are you done with the letter business? Blake is busy cleaning the tables and we need another one to watch the oven."

"Okay, I'll be right there." The young girl skipped inside and left this convoluted point to be resolved another day. Just as she went back to take care of her duties, Ozpin came out to join Ghira.

"What a beautiful morning." He remarked as he sipped on a freshly brewed cup of coffee.

"Looks like just another ordinary morning to me," Ghira answered, not moving his gaze from the landscape.

Warm golden colors imbued the dusty fields with a beautiful shine, while a wide azure blue canvas covered the sky above. In the middle, the morning sun had risen bold and bright. The serene nature of the scene was somewhat spoiled by Cardin, yelling furiously at his mule as it tried to carry him across. A great number of swears was sent through the air until his presence was nothing more than a small bump on the horizon.

"Perhaps." Ozpin murmured. "I do have a feeling we will receive some very interesting news very soon."


	3. An Audience With the King

"Ah yes, thank you very much."

The page boy handed the king another ledger, where after his majesty continued to skim through the many pages while everyone quietly looked on. For Jaune, there was a certain audacity and boldness mixed with his feeling of stupendous awe. The surreal emotion of having come this far, his very presence converging the entire court. It seemed impossible just to imagine, yet it was now his extreme reality.

"Your majesty, please-" Jaune began excited, but then the king raised his hand. He looked at Jaune, and Jaune stopped dead in his track. After a second of absolute stillness, the king returned to skimming through the book.

"Excuse me, I was just-" Then the captain of the royal guard laid a firm hand on his shoulders. She stared him deep in the eyes and just shuck her head slowly.

Jaune resolved to just take a deep breath and wait patiently for the king to finish.

The court of his majesty king Nikos was one of the most magnificent halls Jaune had ever set foot in. A grand marble spectacle, where gilded ornaments sparkled in each corner and golden chandelier stretched across the ceiling. Such a meticulous fervor was given to details that faux marble vines were engraved onto each of the columns that lined the walls. Every single leaf true to form and size.

Here, Jaune was consigned to stand in the middle of it all, surrounded by all other high dignitaries of state.

To his right sat all the various magistrates of the court. All dressed in large black robes, and with only their various odd and eccentric hats specifying what their exact governmental function detailed. To his left where all the highborn nobles, each distinctly fitted in various ostentatious silk outfits. Like in an aviary filled with peacocks, cockatoos, and flamingoes, each one tried to use their own unique mien as an advantage to stand above the rest.

Then, at the far end of the room sat the king on his throne. Next to him stood an empty throne, which intrigued Jaune. It seemed reserved. The queen had been dead for many years, and there was nary a reason for it to stand out here.

"Ah yes! Here it is!" The king suddenly erupted.

Ruffs and capes fluttered briefly in unison as the entire congregation turned their full attention towards the king.

"And, yes, mhmm, very interesting. It says _brown_ very specifically, yes, it does so. It says _brown_, right here."

"I had my hair colored on the way, your majesty". Jaune answered, his demeanor hardly fractured by this sudden revelation. It would only be reasonable to assume one would groom oneself, before meeting their fiancé for the first time, and coloring the hair would be one sure way to adopt a suave appearance.

"No, no, I was talking about your eyes." The king tapped the pages while clarifying his point. "There is no doubt about it, the annals state very precisely that the honorable knight sir Cardin of the Winchester house was born with very clear _brown hazel_ eyes. Very much unlike your own azure blue ones, my lad."

This, however, was much closer to being a fatality to all Jaune's prior emotions of boldness and audacity. Of course, the royal records would state such an obvious fact, which in turn would leave him utterly exposed.

"Yes, you see your majesty." Jaune started, though even from a distance, he could see how king Niko's eyebrows raised ever so slightly. He had only one choice, and only one chance to make it work. "It is clear that, uhm, the royal annals must be mistaken then."

"Mistaken?" King Niko's repeated. The word resonated throughout the room, echoed by all ranks of court officials. Jaune could feel how all, noblemen and officials alike, their prying eyes bore deep within his skin.

"It would certainly be unprecedented for the annals to be mistaken." The king looked to the ceiling, thoughtfully studying the arches above. "Yes, it would be the first time I've ever seen a mistake made in any of my records…"

Jaune could feel cold sweat start to drip down his brow. Now he would not even have a chance to challenge the specter before being booted by the guards.

"Admiral Port! What do you have to say about the annals being _mistaken_?"

Suddenly, a short, stout man rose up from his seat amongst the nobles. He wore a long red frock coat and had a mustache that reached all the way across his face.

"Who me sire?"

"You commanded lord Cardin in battle, did you not?" The king asked again.

"Why yes, that is completely right your majesty. I did command his lordship, the knight Cardin, at the battle of the six hills of Vacuo."

"And does this young man bear a resemblance to his lordship?"

Port carefully bowed forward, inspecting him solemnly.

"I cannot say that he does. This blond-haired blue-eyed lad does not even faintly resemble the brown-haired brown-eyed knight I knew back then, and that is to say nothing of the size. Why! Lord Cardin was massive, a giant compared to this lad, no, to my mind, there is simply no resemblance." Port concluded very empathically.

"I see" King Nikos now looked straight at Jaune. "That is all very interesting."

Absolute panic was about to conquer all Jaune's senses, while doubt and contempt were blatant in the eyes of everyone gathered. Even the captain of the royal guard had started to reach for her sword.

Then suddenly, a single courtier came running across the hall. He hurried up to the king, where he proceeded to softly whisper something into his ear. The news was important, prophetic. The king's eyes went wide, his body shocked. Suddenly he stood up and proclaimed for everyone.

"The Princess!"

Immediately, everyone followed his cue. Magistrates and highborn nobles alike all rose up and proclaimed with passion, like virtue, dignity, and grace was expressed in this single word.

"The Princess!"

Jaune turned around just as the door opened behind him, and in that moment, he did see virtue, dignity, and grace manifested beneath the archway. The fairest and most beautiful women he had ever seen, the Princess Pyrrha made her entrance into the court. Pure green eyes and long lush scarlet hair that floated gracefully behind her. The likeness to her portrait was incomparable, but that had nothing do with trickery, rather it seemed her form transcended what artistic merit could muster. That, he was sure off.

Just as she passed by, she turned and smiled at him with an innocence that to Jaune seemed otherworldly. Her presence brought a joy to him he never believed he would come to experience, but it was still a tainted joy, knowing the pain that glazed her enchanting spirit. The demon lurking in the shadows. When she finally took a seat in the empty throne next to her father, her bright smile had commanded a sudden silence that seemed impenetrable.

"I'm very sorry I'm late." She stated sweetly. "I had some tasks left unfinished, too urgent to postpone."

"Oh, that is quite alright my dear, we were just about to clear up this mysterious matter." The king explained. "You see, while verifying the insignia of your latest suitor, the noble sir Cardin of the Winchester house, we came across an inconsistency in the royal records."

"An inconsistency?" Pyrrha inquired.

"Yes, and then we had honorable admiral Port attest to the validity of said records, and he concluded that-"

"He does not look like him at all!" Port shouted. "The lad! When we fought at the battle of the six hills of Vacuo, he was a completely different man."

"Yes, exactly, so we were just about to clear up this misunderstanding when you came in-"

"There are seven hills in Vacuo." Pyrrha corrected. She turned to look at Port, who was equally astounded and confused. "The battle was fought over the seven hills of Vacuo; I remember reading about it very well. It was all thanks to your genius sense of logistic we were able to turn the tide around. Commanding so many thousands of troops is both an honor and responsibility the fewest could manage in such a clear-headed manner as you did."

"Ah yes, thank you very much, your majesty-"

"As such a valiant servant to the crown, I pray you may forgive papa's insolence when he expects you to remember every single soldier you have commanded. To attest to details in memories of chaos and carnage is not how our valiant heroes should be commemorated, rather your wisdom of the battlefield is best served in terms of strategies and tactics.

"Yes, uhmm, yes." Admiral Port began, then stopped, then began again. Then went completely quiet and sat down.

Next, Pyrrha turned to her father.

"My dear papa, you really do not have to cause such a fuss over any inconsistencies. It is quite obviously clear there must be a mistake in the annals."

"Yes, there is? Why? How can you tell my dear?" The king seemed to become more and more exasperated by his daughter's gift of providence.

"Why? Oh, papa, it's really so elementary as soon as you realize it." Pyrrha now shifted her gaze towards Jaune again, still smiling playfully and innocent.

"To suggest the opposite, that someone presented forged documents in order to impersonate a knight of a higher order, well, it is possibly the most ludicrous plan I have ever heard off. Especially considering the swiftness of the judgment, the harshness of the punishment and the ease it would be to uncover the truth. After all, it would only take one swift courier to the eastern plains to confirm his authenticity. Then the Winchester house will hear, next, the family would be there. They will sue and we have all the evidence recorded. If this man really stole the regalia that he bears, would he then voluntary make an audience with the king? Would he voluntary return to court? No, for a man to stand with such ease in front of papa with such a sin strung around his neck… it is simply preposterous."

In this moment, something broke inside Jaune, though fortunately, it did so very quietly. The whole court was struck silent by Pyrrha and her clear rhetoric. Everything seemed frozen until King Nikos clapped his mighty hands together.

"HA! HA! of course!" The king bellowed. "Right you are my dear, only a fool, an idiot would dare to pull off a stunt like that."

"Come here, Cardin my dear boy." The entire court applauded with laughter and cheers as king Nikos ran down to give Jaune a hug that almost caused his entire body to collapse. "I'm so sorry for this misunderstanding, it's so easy to see how silly it all is now."

Jaune, not thinking it was silly at all, was rather disturbed by the whole affair. He looked up and saw Pyrrha was persistently smiling at him. Hardly any changes had occurred to her mood, yet she seemed like a different person altogether. Jaune could for now only speculate how much was due to the specter's influence, and her fear for its wrath.

"I bet you're happy to have such a genius for a bride, right my boy! Oh, she's the smartest girl west of the Glenn Mountains. She is beauty, wisdom and strength all in one, the rarest treasure of them all."

"Please father." Pyrrha giggled. "You must be boring sir Cardin with all your boasting."

"Well, I'm sure he would be willing to forgive an old man for being happy." The king gave Jaune a slap on the shoulder that came close to snapping his spine in two. "To think I would imagine something as daft as you being an impersonator, standing before the king myself. Why! I could guarantee if the _**real**_ Cardin Winchester just suddenly waltzed in here in this very moment, you would be hanging in the gallows before sundown. Isn't that just crazy to imagine!"

Pyrrha laughed, faint and modest. The king guffawed with sonorous delight. Jaune stood stiff and empty, quietly muttering. "Yes, that would be crazy to imagine."


	4. Ghosts

Jaune's induction into the high court was not an easy matter to settle. The ascension to such status required full obedience to protocol, as all formalities had to be honored with rigorous plight for customs and traditions. It did not leave Jaune with much leeway to investigate the specter and its secrets, instead, he found himself being guided through various halls and corridors by the king, and with princess Pyrrha by his side. Not that he minded spending time with the Princess, but it seemed his full attention was meant to be solely devoted to the long and tedious lectures offered by her father.

Rules were listed, ceremonies described. All and every bit of etiquette laid out in the most acute detail, and he was expected to take note of everything. King Nikos did not just carry the ethos of a dignified and royal authority, but he was also a demanding physical presence. His large arms commanding waves around him as he swung them in the air, his large legs making Jaune run after him to keep the pace.

In comparison, Pyrrha was very reserved, which stirred some ambivalent emotions inside Jaune. He did want to hear her sweet voice again, but he did also not want to hear her talk about any sins being strung around anybody's neck.

"Aah, you see my boy Cardin, much good is going to come out of this marriage. You have no idea." The king suddenly erupted, as he laid his arm around Jaune's shoulders. "Now it's probably too early to be talking about that kind of stuff, I know how sensitive young people are about this subject, but this harmonious union is assured to bring some stability to the land."

He smiled at Jaune, but Jaune was not sure if he was really deserving of this amiable gesture. Pyrrha did not comment.

"You have probably heard that a few other suitors have passed this way, rejected though. Don't let your mind be occupied by such trifling details, it was merely men too small to handle the royal responsibilities. However, as I am assured you're a warrior of repute, I'm assured you will be able to handle it all just fine."

A few claps on the shoulder and some resolute nodding were added as the necessary caesura before he moved on from the topic. Jaune suspected this was his way of alluding to the nightly attacks.

He was about to consider whether he could allow himself to inquire for more information, when he was distracted by a sudden delicious aroma emanating from somewhere beyond the walls. The smell of newly baked bread, the smell of roast beef, the smell of simmering herbs and spices. All captivating and delightful scents that reminded Jaune he had not eaten anything for about a day.

"But I am delighted you have accepted the proposal." King Nikos continued. "I mean, this is not just for the present nor the simple _now_, as the commoners believe in, but for the future. For the generations to come-"

"Dad, I'm sure you're being a bore to lord Cardin now." Pyrrha suddenly interrupted.

"My dear." The king assured her. "I know how you feel about the subject, but please, the time has reached its zenith and we must start to think ahead. The people will look to us for security, and how can we assure them if there is no future for the crown?"

"Yes dad, but there is no reason to instruct sir Cardin in all these matters so prematurely. If you could give him time to settle into his role at court, I'm sure he will understand."

"Of course, but it is for the best he gets to know about it already."

"I know papa, I just don't think it is wise to rush these procedures."

"Time is not perpetual, and we must act in accordance. You have moved beyond childhood and must now consider eternity, like myself, like everyone else… like your mother once did."

"Papa, please."

"I'm sorry my dearest, but when we are tested by our hardships, we must always answer with all the strength and ferocity our bodies can muster. It is intrinsic for the preparations of our plans that an heir will be produced."

"An heir?" Jaune repeated, shocked. This word did manage to eject him from previous food reveries, but it was obvious he was no longer locus of the conversation. An intense aura was palpable between father and daughter as their eyes locked on each other, Pyrrha did not retort.

The moment seemed interminable, but a conclusion was reached thanks to the intrusion of the captain of the royal guard.

"Excuse me, your majesty? I've got two messages to deliver." She said as she came running down the hall towards them.

"Captain Yang! What is this now? Good news and bad news?" The king replied annoyed, reluctantly shifting his concern from private to official matters.

"Eh… no. Well, yes, kind of. One is kind of bad, and the other isn't important, so, I guess if you count unimportant news as no news, and then that no news is good news, then you can say it's good and bad news."

The king sighed deeply.

"So, you got bad news and news so _irrelevant_ it counts as no news, which in turn, makes it good news?"

"Yes, sire, which message would you like first?". Yang's remedy for heartache was to be blunt and obtuse, which apparently did make everything easier. Jaune wondered how well you could do it on purpose.

"I gueeeeeeeeeeess." The king made sure to draw out the syllabus, making a profound theater a retaliation against Yang's sophistry. "I would go with the bad news first, as it seems to be the only message here that actually matters."

"oh well, there is an intruder in the castle."

Just as dreadful as it sounded, just as deadpan as Yang acted, just as unfazed was the king. He seemed neither mad nor upset, like Yang's alert had just passed through him like a gust of wind. His eyes were dark and empty. A light wrinkle deepened on the edge of his brow.

Jaune found it all very weird, for this news did certainly affect him much differently. It did so with excitement, worry, vigor. Perhaps it was the spectre? Perhaps this was the exact moment he had been waiting for? Perhaps now it was time for feeble judgment made virtue by strength!

"Okay, I'll look into it, and what is this bit of unimportant news you said you had to deliver to me as well?" The king continued. His voice dimmed but not extinguished.

"oh well." Yang scratched her head. "There was this incident downtown, a mule fell asleep in the middle of the road and blocked traffic in every single direction. It was almost complete chaos. It didn't help the owner seemed to be in a state of complete hysteria, screaming at every man, woman and child that dared even to look at him. After a while, the guards managed to escort him away from the premise, which brought back at least some order, but he kept raving about a very important meeting with the king all the while."

"And where is he now?"

"He's being detained for obstruction of the public peace."

"And rightly so." The king concluded. "Sounds like an utter madman to me. Best just to clear up the mess, keep in him jail until he clear his head and then send him on his way, don't you think so my boy?"

"Yes, your majesty. That is probably right." Jaune had almost stopped breathing as soon as Yang mentioned the mule, but his concerns were again delayed. Thank the gods.

"Exactly, well, you must all excuse me. Captain Yang and I will leave you now to take care of this intruder business. Goodbye." He bowed solemnly, then took a step closer to Pyrrha. His eyes had regained a warm, kindly expression as he gazed at his daughter. He stretched out his hand hesitantly, as he might fear whatever reaction would occur, but then overcame it with a modest hug. "Don't waste your time with worries, just know we are all so proud of you regardless."

Yang gave a salute, then both left in quick march tempo.

Without the immense presence of the king to occupy the majority of space around them, Jaune came to realize how wide and empty the corridors of the castle truly was. He looked at Pyrrha who was right beside him but seemed so distant. Her eyes pure and dark, remote from their long conversations. Lost in their in own maelstrom of speculation.

Then suddenly she looked up, having regained her senses again.

"Excuse us, lord Cardin, you must really pardon our unseemly hospitality. Why it is almost lunchtime and you must be absolutely famished! Please, if you go back and step into the door to your right, you'll be in the kitchen where our servants will be able to prepare a quick meal for you."

Jaune considered for a moment how much he should put on an act of polite refutation, before leaping straight towards this culinary paradise, but a loud rumble from his stomach preceded him. Pyrrha smiled, he bowed his head while mumbling quiet apologies before taking his leave.

With his hunger commanding him much better than his guilt and concerns, he was able to leave Pyrrha alone without any thoughts of a specter or demon warden hanging behind. He quickly found his way into a brightly light room, heated by several large cauldrons and ovens lined against the walls. Here all the fantasies the scents had created in him was brought to life in elaborate and magnificent dishes. An army of chefs were producing all sorts of artistic marvels using the finest resources of land and sea. Like in a factory, from one end came in flour, vegetables, and meat and in the other end stood Fowl á la Reine, Salmon à la Chambord and jelly.

"Goodai Monsieur, I couldn't hélp but noticé your **gawking!** Can I help you with something?"

Jaune turned around and saw a huge man with a large unkempt beard that seemed to grow in random patches all across his face.

"Who are you?!" He shouted in confusion.

"I am Francatelli, the executive chef. Who are you Monsieur?"

"I am… sir Cardin… of the Winchester house."

"Ai see and what do ze desire here?"

"f-f-f-food, please."

"Ai am vairy sorry mastair Cardin, but due to a small prédicamont that occurred prior to your arrival, we can on-lee offer what is left of zis loaf of bread."

Francatelli went over to one of the long oak tables that crossed through the room, where he found a long loaf of white bread. Only partly chopped in the end, it still seemed untouched and fresh.

"Is that really all?" Jaune did not mean to sound disappointed, but it hardly compared to the wonders all around them.

"As ai said, wé had a predicamont we are still trying to résulve. All my staff is needed to prepare for lunch. You will have to come bak latair."

Francatelli handed it to him, then went back to work without saying another word. Jaune left, departing not with a full meal, but with something that might just only compensate for his appetite.

As he was biting into the soft crust, he realized he had no idea where he was or where Pyrrha and the king had gone to. He was back in the corridor, he thought, but he was not sure. Was he supposed to be somewhere in particular, had the king mentioned something like that earlier during his lecture? Was he lost?

The limestone walls only surrounded him with portraits moving across time, status and sex. Ministers, officers, aristocrats. Imbued with pale eyes, their wisdom did not extend beyond the canvas.

He continued to wander, thinking he was bound to find something that could point him in the right direction sooner or later. Perhaps Yang was already looking for him? That would make everything a lot easier for sure. Or one of the lower rank officials could accommodate him? It was one of the perks of being a knight, after all.

Jaune kept thinking about all these possibilities, but after turning around the next corner, he was very forcefully pushed aside by something that at first seemed invisible.

"Who's there!" He shouted, shocked but not surprised, for now, the hunt had begun!

He turned around and saw a being run across the hall. It was fast, it was impossible to discern any details. At once, it was gone and out of his sight, then immediately followed by loud cheers coming from the other end of the corridor. Footsteps coming in from all directions, converging not far away.

He understood he was not a squire anymore; he knew he had to take charge. He was Cardin, a knight and he needed to become a hero if he was to win this fight. Without any more considerations, he followed behind this fiendishly quick little thing. His previous life as a vassal had given him experience and strength, but he never thought it would come to be tested like this.

Past a sharp turn to the right, Jaune found a large oak door standing wide open. Upon entering what looked like a small library, he found no specter, but one shelf had been thoroughly ransacked with several moldy books lying spread around the floor. Inspecting it closer, Jaune discovered a switch hidden at the back end of the rack. It then proceeded to reveal a secret passage, which in turn lead him up into the rafters of the northern castle wing.

A narrow space, but brightly illuminated by various holes scattered throughout the roof. Several cannonballs laid strewn on the floor, and a various assortment of bullets was still lodged in the walls. Apart from that, the attic contained all other sorts of garbage stowed away and wrapped in thick linen sheets, but Jaune knew it was not all.

"So, we meet at last." He began, proud of having completed his mission with such boldness. "You are a lot more careless than I thought you would be. The books on the floor pointed straight towards your secret, and now there's no escape. Soon Captain Yang and the rest of the guard will have you captured, and then your days plaguing princess Pyrrha will be over."

"No, it won't!"

Jaune did not expect to hear such a wimpy girlish voice, neither did he expect to see such an immense orange mane pocking out of an empty cargo box just next to him. Staring back at him was a pair of light blue eyes imbued with a furious expression, which did actually surprise him. This was actually what he never would have anticipated.

"What?" He said, too shocked to even raise his voice this time.

"I said it won't happen, that thing you said just before. NEVER. Also, you're mean. Go away."

"I'm not mean… I'm looking for the specter."

"Yes, you're mean. I don't like you. Find your specter somewhere else." The orange-haired girl said indifferently to Jaune's bewilderment.

"But… But… I thought you were a… specter… the intruder?"

"I'm not, I'm N-"

"NORA!" Jaune turned around and was now both very confused and very perplexed, as he saw princess Pyrrha had somehow managed to find them both. "You really need to be more careful when you decide to come around, the books were all over the floor. Any idiot could have found their way up here now, oh!"

Jaune hurried to cover the orange-haired girl from Pyrrha's view as she moved closer.

"You're here? Sir Cardin? What a surprise."

"Yep, just me up here. Nothing else."

"Just you? Perhaps trying to catch the trespasser from earlier?" Pyrrha said, perhaps even with a hint of sarcasm.

"Yep, but it looks like it was just another red herring, **HA!** Ha." Behind Jaune, a very small orange-haired girl's patience was starting to run out. Taking the opportunity to pinch his sides at each convenient break.

"So… you're just up here by yourself? No, intruders or trespassers around" Pyrrha asked.

"**YYEP**" Jaune answered, just as he was feeling one mighty kick to his behind.

"Is that right Nora?" Pyrrha called out into the room.

"NO! It's wrong!" Was Nora's answer. "There is one huge jerk that doesn't want to leave."

The girl jumped up from her hiding place and came running out to embrace Pyrrha.

"The mean man said he was going to take me away and I would never again come to visit you!"

Pyrrha kneeled down to reciprocate her hug, but her eyes wandered to Jaune who did his best to look as embarrassed as he was.

"Did he really say such a thing? Why? That sounds absolutely horrible!"

"Please excuse me, your majesty, I didn't know-"

"And why would he say that? I Can't believe sir Cardin would just be mean without a reason?"

"Well, he did call me a specter though, but I don't know what he was talking about."

"Did he know? That's very interesting." For a moment Pyrrha's expression faltered, her eyes grew distant like they had been before in the hallway, but she shucks it off quickly. She got up and put Nora back on top of the box. "And how is Ren? Is he feeling better?"

"Ren… he is feeling better! He says thanks to you too for your help, but he can still not go back to work just yet."

Nora seemed to become more serious as she spoke. Pyrrha tried to comfort her by gently stroking her hair, but to no avail.

"I'm so sorry Nora, I'm sorry I can't do more to help. I only managed to get you this today." Pyrrha said as she pulled out one of Francatelli's long loaves of white bread.

"REALLY! Oh, thank you so much, Pyrrha! You're really my second-best friend in the whole world!" Nora jumped up ecstatically, so her orange hair fluttered to all sides. Grabbing the bread and holding it up as some impossible trophy.

"I'm sorry I can't do more, but it seemed like some rascal caused some problems for the kitchen staff."

"He he, you should have seen it. There was this _HUUUUUUUGE_cake, it had like a thousand layers, and I just wanted a little piece, but then it all fell down. ALL OVER THE FLOOR, it was everywhere. Then this really weird guy came around and started to shout a bunch of French words."

"He shouted words in French?" Jaune asked curiously.

"Yeah, you know, words like #$ &%*!✴#"

"I see," Jaune said, not sure he understood anymore.

"You really need to be more careful. If something were to happen by accident… I'm not sure I would be able to help you anymore." Pyrrha explained with a gentle voice.

"I know… I'm doing my best Pyrrha!" The girl cried both happy and terrified at the same time.

Pyrrha only responded by grabbing tightly around her hand, not doing anything else. Just holding her in silence, while Jaune contemplated the meaning of it.

He held up his own piece of bread, slightly bigger in comparison.

With all the chasing and running around, he had hardly had an opportunity to touch it. It still looked mostly fresh and soft. He broke off the end he had chewed on earlier and handed the rest to the girl.

"If you could have this too, will you be my friend as well?"

Nora looked at the bread, then at him. Jaune was doing his best to force on a gentle smile.

"I guess… you could be my friend if you promise never to take me away!"

"I will," Jaune said quietly.

"Okay then!" Nora said, quickly snatching it out of his hands. "Now I have two!"

She did seem double as ecstatic as before, but Pyrrha did not match her joyous energy. Neither did Jaune for that matter.

"Anyway, I need to get back. Ren will be worried if I'm not home before evening." She jumped down and went over to one of the larger holes in the ceiling. "Goodbye Pyrrha. Goodbye new friend, who might not actually be mean, good luck with your ghost hunt!"

She crawled out onto the roof and then she was gone. Jaune went to look after her, but even though he could see a great many things from this vantage point, there was no orange-haired girl with clear blue eyes. Below were thatches for a myriad of small cottages, travelers and traders mingling in the noon sun, a rotten smell that seemed to penetrate everything. Nora had vanished without a trace.

"Don't worry," Pyrrha said as she walked back to the stairs leading down to the library. "She'll be back tomorrow."

"Okay," Jaune said, not moving away from the hole. "Who is Ren? Is that her father?"

"It's a friend I believe. She doesn't have a father, also, we better hurry downstairs before someone comes looking for us."

Pyrrha waited patiently, but Jaune kept standing still.

"Are you coming, sir?"

"That bread… it wasn't enough, was it?" Jaune turned around and looked at her, his blue eyes vehemently serious.

"What a very astute observation sir Cardin, perhaps I have underestimated the immense faculties of your intelligence."

Pyrrha did not flinch. She stared back at him directly and unabashed.

"But isn't there something we can do? Can't we help her?"

"What? Do you expect to roll down the gates and come marching through the streets for one sick kid?"

"Can we not? I mean, the king is known far and wide for his great wisdom and generosity. Is it not one of his may duties to care for his citizens? He said so himself earlier, didn't he?"

She did not respond, not immediately. She walked back up a few steps, then shifted to the other side of the room so the sun would not get in her eyes.

"Being raised in a castle is, for the most part, an exercise in learning the limit to your possibilities. To make exceptions to the standard is considered unacceptable, nay, treason and heresy more likely. We can only do what is neglected by the law, the rest is beyond our control."

Jaune felt dejected, but his resolve steadied. This tragedy was just a fracture of the mystery, what lied beyond was his responsibility to uncover. It was the decaying remnants of an ancient conflict, and once it was cleared, everyone would be free again.

"Why did you try to conceal Nora when I first walked in? Couldn't you hear me when I called out for her?" Pyrrha suddenly asked.

"I didn't know who she was. I didn't want to bring her in trouble if she wasn't supposed to be there… I'm sorry I lied to you."

"It's okay, truth is most commonly spoken from a point of ignorance anyway." Pyrrha then took Jaune's hand and held it against her cheek. "I do not know how you came to learn of the demon that lurks in the shadows, it has remained a secret for all but those that suffer in its wrath. I can't even begin to explain to you the fear it instills in everyone, in me, in my father, in everyone here in the castle. Few speak of it, but everyone thinks of it. Constantly. You must understand that beneath its darkness beats an eternal pulse of malice. It is indestructible, unstoppable and immortal. You seem kind and caring I- there were times I wished someone like you would come and defeat it, even if it seemed hopeless. I just pray you will be careful; you understand?"

"I think I do." Jaune said, but now he was not sure.


	5. The Two Kingdoms

In the kingdom of the living you can find peace, but it is always temporary.

Darkness, it was dark all around. Cardin did not want to see it anyway; he could understand enough already. The foul smell of death permeated everything. Rattling armor and heavy footsteps. Then a bucket of water was dosed on his face. Howls of laughter from beyond the cell gate. A flash of light from the corridor illuminated his toothless face, made his red disfigured nose shine for an instant.

"Some refreshments to quell his majesties thirst. Compliments from the fine aquatic bodies that run through the city."

Cardin sank down from the bed, grunting loudly. Now he was wet too. Cold, wet and incarcerated.

"I was talking to the ward who has the experience of dealing with your kind, and he prescribed this fine treatment especially for those which mental state is delusional."

"You certainly know a lot of fine words Mr. jailer. It surprises me a man of such knowledge could end up here."

"Oh, don't you worry lad!" The jailer stood up and went back to his seat in the corner. "This is a mighty fine place this is, fit for a king even for a noble _knight_ such as yourself."

Hard stone floor beneath, Cardin scraped his hands against the surface. Cold, slimy and wet. What a drab fate he had been bestowed. Is this really the price for treason? How ironic.

"Could I have some paper? I need to write a letter."

"Nah, can't have the likes of you spreading your madness."

"Can I have some paper to wipe my ass with then?"

A door closed upstairs, the light from the corridor went out. More darkness. The jailer got up and took down a lantern from the wall, light a match and once again his blunt toothless face was imbued by an orange halo.

"Don't get me wrong, I like the funny ones, but I can assure you nothing is as funny as when I call the mates down for a trashing." He followed up by gathering a thick ball of saliva and spitting it down on Cardin.

"Yeah, sounds like a fun night." Cardin smeared the liquid out on his face with the palm of his hand. Washed it away, the water and spit. "If it not because nothing is more pathetic than beating what is left of my body. I think my jokes could entertain you more."

The jailer walked closer; his appearance framed by the bars of the cell. Cardin could now see the deteriorated state of his brown coat, the rusted chainmail underneath. Putrid scales like the belly of a cockroach.

"Really? What makes you think you're different from the rest?"

"I know the tricks, the pleasure of violence. It was revealed to me in the war."

"Really? Back when we won against Salem?"

"I don't know" Cardin turned around on his side so he could face the jailer better. "It wasn't a sport back then. It wasn't a victory for the winning team and everybody with their dandy green coats got a trophy. Back then, there were only two kinds of people worth distinction between, the living and the dead. That is the only truth I was ever taught, and the only truth I still believe in," A fit of coughing interrupted Cardin, but he was not stopping just because of that. His voice became hoarse, but he only tried to compensate by speaking louder.

"Back then, I won! Thousands of people lost, but they don't matter. I don't think about them. I won and I will continue to win as long as I am alive."

He reached under his coat and tore off one of the buttons lining the hem. The stitches were finely sewn so it took some time before it was completely ripped out. It was dirty, but beneath it shimmered golden.

Cardin bit down against it, hard, then placed it in front of him.

"I require paper, ink and quills. Immediately!"

The jailer looked at it, then at Cardin. The flickering light. The reflection in the mat surface. It was a quiet whisper in a room dulled by the imprudence of decay.

"Yeah, alright. I can get you that."

The jailer went to a cabinet, rummaged for a while and then returned with the requested items. Soon Cardin sat hunched over the paper with pen in hand. He wrote quickly and precise. Never second-guessed. It was a short letter. The jailer held up the light above him, his eyes aimed at the trinket on the floor.

"I would need to have this sent by courier tonight," Cardin said as he finished the last paragraph.

"Well, the mailman comes tomorrow." Was the jailers answer.

From under his coat, Cardin reached again and tore out two more buttons.

"I'll see what I can do…" was the jailers new answer.

After a few hours, a man in a marine blue uniform arrived. Cardin stopped his letter into an envelope, then handed it to the jailer, who then handed it to the courier. Cardin removed the last of his buttons to satisfy the final transaction. Then it was gone, and Cardin would just have to wait for the news to reach home. Everything would be over by morning, and Jaune would finally come to know what it is like to be faced by nemesis.

From the opposing cell, one emaciated silhouette suddenly pressed against the bars. His figure opaque but mutilated in the shadows. His hair long and white, his eyes red and bloodshot. His screams terrifying and relentless.

"**THE DEAD AND THE SLEEPING IS NAUGHT BUT PICTURES. ONLY THE CHILD'S MIND FEARS THE PAINTED DEVIL!"**

More screaming and laughter unraveled along the cellblock. Thin shadows rose up, lined against the doors and hollered hysterically. Cascading with delirious words and wild dances all through the dungeon, their songs more deformed than their bodies. Hell. No human language put together.

"Oh, look what all your fancy talking has done to us." The jailer moaned. "Now the loonies have woken up again. I don't suspect your gold can buy us a minute of silence, do you?"

The jailer got up and left him. Cardin did not care, he crept back into his newly dried bed and proceeded to sleep. It was not the best, but he could believe it was satisfying. Worth the wait. Silence came abruptly back as the ironclad fist of the jailer was slung against the jaw of an old raving fool, and then nothing would disturb him again for the rest of the night.

You are never lonely in the kingdom of the dead, but you do get cold after a while.


	6. The Navel of The Beast

"Your quarters will be located in the west wing of the Demeter compartments. It is an older part of the castle but fully equipped to make for an enjoyable stay. Should you ever need anything, there will be guards posted at the conjoining corridors, ready to be of service."

Yang spoke in a concise and clear manner as she guided Jaune to his room. They had already passed several servants undertaking the strenuous duty of lighting all the candelabras placed along the hallways, prolonging the abundance of light even though the sun was setting fast.

"I hope it will all be to your satisfaction." She continued, but Jaune did not reply. He just stared into the back of her head, studying her long blond hair. The captain was a mystic person. She seemed to disappear and reappear at will, not really following any planned schedule but rather the spontaneous whims of her will. She wore a thick shell of golden armor that covered her entire body and had a short sword hanging by her side at all times. The metal joints of her coat clicked loudly as she walked.

She was a curious person.

After having walked for a while, she stopped in front of a large set of double doors. Opening just one of them in a great show of gallantry.

"And here we are sir, may you have a pleasant night."

Jaune stepped inside his chambers for the night. It was certainly a much different hospitality than haystacks in attics. A large spacious room furnished opulently with many different baroque contraptions. A chaise longue, several armchairs and tables decked with pots of wilted flowers. In one end of the room stood a large canopy bed, its red velvet curtains wavering gently as if some invisible hand rested against them.

"I know I'm not supposed to tell you this, but since this is your lot, I feel like I owe it to you anyway." Jaune turned around and saw Yang still lingered at the door. "But it was in this very room we found the queen dead in the arms of her lover."

Jaune just stared back at her, having no idea how to respond but then Yang broke down in a fit of hysteric laughter.

"Oh man, dude. Your face! Goddamn, that was the most hilarious thing, like, you really thought! Oh, oh man. You just made my day."

"What?" Jaune asked confused.

"Man, it's just a joke. Nothing happened here, at least as far as I know." Yang stopped for a second to reconsider. "I mean, there are tons of things they don't tell me, and if something like that did happen, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't tell me, and also, that is just _NOT_ how the queen actually died, though if it actually was like that, they would probably cover it up and tell me something else, so, yeah. I mean, hypothetically it might be, I dunno. Anyway, goodnight!"

Yang took a brisk step away, but Jaune caught up to her, and stopped her on the way out.

"Wait, so you're just going to go now? Leaving me alone?"

She tried to eschew his gaze, but Jaune persisted.

"I mean, don't you have something more important to take care of?"

"Okay, listen here, sir mister Cardin of the Winchester house." Then it all escalated very fast as Yang pushed him aside while her finger rested threateningly against his throat. "You might think you're some big man out there in the sticks, but those lady killer vibes are fucking dead here. Pyrrha is my homegirl, and if you think I'm going to let you betray her like that, then I'll have to physically convince you of the opposite. And that is going to be very painful, you hear me?"

Taking it a step further, Jaune was quickly backed up against the wall by Yang.

"And I mean what I'm saying, if I ever see you pull off something like that again, I'm going to break you in half and walk away with the part you need the most."

Left with a single promise that seemed intended to be kept true, Jaune sunk down to the floor as Yang stormed off. It hardly did ease his concerns of being left alone in a castle terrorized by demons, but it was his fate after all. He came here to deal with the specter on his own volition, and he would surely conquer in that capacity.

He took the silver sword and steadied it against the bed. There was just the right amount of time to prepare for an ambush. This room, despite the abundance of luxury, the solemn air, it would be the scene for tonight's confrontation.

In the other end of the room stood a cold and empty fireplace and above it hung a large golden mirror. His full reflection, a tall lanky figure with determined blue eyes, stared down at him incessantly. He felt tired, it had been a long day. He had dinner but still did not feel full. It had been a long day. Meeting Nora- what Pyrrha taught him- it haunted him still. It would continue to do so. Hopefully the day would be over soon.

Relinquishing his devotion to the senses, Jaune soon found himself creeping into bed. Here, he would lie in wait, with the sword fixed at his side. Ready for when the specter would appear. Ready to liberate the princess once and for all. Ready to remind himself he had not actually slept for a full day either.

With his head resting against the soft pillow, with his body covered in comfy blankets, he was soon betrayed by the last man he would ever have suspected. Himself.

Once closing his eyes, his view was suddenly filled with strange visions. Colors, phantoms, surreal landscapes and absurd horizons. He was back at the first tavern, one raven-haired girl handed him a letter and said to take it to the castle. If he looked at the content, he would turn to stone. Outside on the road, there was no road. Only a void filled with faint stars. The letter was gone, he tried to look for it, but the king wanted to have his head chopped up for losing it.

The castle was far away, but a girl with long red hair and sparkling green eyes said she could take the letter there very quickly. Jaune asked if she knew where the letter had gone to, and she said the princess had it already. He asked how she got it, and she answered if he would like to see it. Jaune had forgotten it would turn him to stone, so when he held it in his hands, a spark of electricity went through his body. He saw a doll with a wide smile looking at him from across the room.

Jaune awoke with a jolt and a feeling of great disturbance, the images of his dream eloping between obscurity and memory. Only a slight hint of phantasmagoria resided in his conscious, which confused his senses for a moment. Despite him being awake. Despite him lying in his soft bed and resting his head against his large pillows, there was still a creepy doll staring at him from across the room.

He felt slightly uncomfortable. The room was completely empty now, except for one large doll he was absolutely sure had not been there before.

Jaune reached for his sword, but just as he did so, the doll got up. It slowly started creeping away from him, moving towards the fireplace in the backend of the room.

"Are you the specter? I command you to stop." Jaune called, but the doll did not react. It continued to slowly move across the floor.

The spell that commanded this inanimate object did obviously not hesitate by his word, so he quickly got up to confront it with his weapon drawn.

"Stop this instant… please!" The doll did not respond but continued its slow crawl towards the fireplace.

"I am sorry, but you leave me no choice!" Jaune finally said while the doll continued to ignore him. The fear did amend him from attacking it directly, so instead, he opted for a warning strike across the air. This was enough to render it still, and the doll collapsed onto the floor, where it continued to stare back at him with its large round glass eyes.

"Is that really you? The famed specter…" Jaune muttered as he picked it up. It was an old ragged toy, perhaps once deeply beloved but now discarded. From the head, a piece of wire extended down the body until the place where he cut it from.

"Is that really you?" Jaune got down next to the fireplace, where the other end of the wire laid flaccid on the ground. He took it up gently, held it in his hands, but then a powerful force started pulling at it. Jaune hardly had the strength to hold on, as the other end of the line was seized and vanished up into the chimney.

"Is that you?..." he repeated again

A click from the door, very subtle, but enough to turn his knees into jelly. Jaune turned around and saw the door to his room slowly started to open in front of him. Nobody was there, at least not anyone he could see. Then light. A distant ray of light was ignited somewhere outside the hall, beckoning him to enter.

Jaune steadied himself. He did not know what the specter had in store, but he knew this would be the apex of its illustrious history. The final exorcism. He hurried to pull on his socks and fix his breastplate, and then went out to confront it.

In the corridor, only one small candle burned next to the door. Elongated beams of dim light and deformed silhouettes stretched across the floor, casting strange and peculiar shadows all around. A damp trail of mist oozed from the corners and embedded the area in a somber vapor. No being could be seen but spirit was vast and palpable.

"Are you there!" Jaune looked to both sides of the hall, but there was only empty darkness in each end.

"I am here." He heard a sound; it was like a mute organ eliciting forbidden screams. A choir without a soul, a body without organs.

Jaune was petrified, but it was too late now. He could only venture forward.

"You are the one that pretends to be Sir Cardin?" The voice spoke.

"I am sir Cardin! Yes." Jaune answered, creeping slowly down the corridor.

"You lie to the king and the court, you lie to the princess of these lands and now you lie to me. Why?"

"There is no lie, I am the knight of the Winchester house!"

"You have no reason to keep up this façade. I know you. You're a parasite disguised."

The voice got louder, but Jaune could still not hear where it was coming from.

"I don't know why you would believe that! You're completely mistaken-"

Immediately out of the shadows, a dagger came flying through the air and caught the hem of Jaune's sleeve against the wall. A few candles were suddenly light up, and the specter made its entrance right in front of him.

"I am rarely mistaken."

Breaching from the darkness to the light, a slender figure approached him in the hallway. The head was covered by a wide-brimmed black felt hat, and a pair of red-tinted glasses obscured the eyes. Long maroon hair bounced atop a short cloak, which wrapped around its shoulders. From below the waist extended a pair of long gaiters and black boots, tightly fitting its athletic form. The mask, the costume, the veil. All bleak and dreary, opaque shades of misery.

Most vital, however, was the slender blade protruding from its hand. A long silver rapier, with elaborate patterns adorning the edge. Very much like his own sword, except in the hands of this fiend, it seemed to dance so effortlessly in the air.

"I am rarely mistaken about anything."

It was not really what Jaune had expected. Unlike before, the deep voice now sounded jarring and bizarre. Like the pitch had been transposed to an unpracticed registry.

But for Jaune, there was not much time to consider these elements. As by lightning strike, one fell swoop of the rapier descended upon him. Jaune hurried to rip his shirt for its confinement and rolled behind the specter as fast as he could.

"I do not know what affection compels you to proclaim this man's name, for his achievements are neither humble nor advantageous. A sore combination for any fool."

A crimson flare gleamed out of its glass eyes. The specter turned around slowly, raising its weapon again.

"I have heard lord Cardin disguised himself as a servant in order to desert his regiment at the final battle of Vale!"

Another strike fell down at him, but this time Jaune was ready to parry.

"That's merely hearsay"

The strength of the specter quickly outmatched his own and he was pushed back.

"I am aware sir Cardin attempted to inebriate his commanding officers so he could sneak away from camp the night before the assault on Coquina!"

A barrage of slashes followed.

"Lies. All lies."

Jaune was not sure for how long he could keep it up.

"And when the war finally ended and he could return home, he then managed to build his precious castle entirely on the basis of tax fraud."

This time he hardly managed to dodge the attack, and accidentally crashed into a decorative set of armor standing to the side. A thousand pieces of spotless metal scrambled all over the floor, while Jaune hurried to scuttle away.

"I don't know, I wasn't there!"

For an instant, it seemed like the specter reposed. It lowered its weapon and looked at Jaune.

"You do seem so clumsy and untrained. No wonder you're such a coward, or perhaps you really just are a terrible liar? I have no interest in the truth anyway, I just want you to be gone."

"Perhaps you should not discard truth that easily," Jaune said as he swung around, flinging his sword at it with his full weight loaded in a pirouette spin. "Like the truth of you being driven from this castle tonight."

The specter merely stepped back and allowed Jaune to spin around and lose balance. Laughing at his pitiful attempt.

"Typical, you came here to be the hero. Slay the beats, get the princess. I bet she would be over ecstatic by the promise of spending her life as a glorified trophy."

Jaune fixed his grip around the blade and swung it again. This time the specter made only a vapid attempt at deflecting his attack, almost tired of this lack of a challenge.

"So predictable. I have known the princess my whole life, and now you want to take her away from me. What right was given you to make such a demand? You got an offer? A proposal? and now you think you own her? You're pathetic!"

Jaune was overwhelmed by the skill and dexterity of the specter's swordplay. As their blades wrestled against each other, it began adjusting the contact point. Sliding the rapier along the edge of his sword, until it had secured the dominant lead.

"I should perish so she can serve you. Is that not the blueprint for the male brain? No agency, only serfdom and gratitude in abundance."

Jaune was forced to step back, which the specter exploited by charging forward.

"I will be more than happy to serve the princess in any capacity she deems fit. If I should stay or leave, it will not matter. Only the princess's fortune is my concern."

The situation had suddenly become very dangerous. The specter now had the tip of its blade pointed straight at his chest.

"You risk everything you got. Your life, and all that it is worth, and now you want me to believe you want nothing in return?"

With a cut of the rapier, the shoulder clasp on his breastplate was chopped off. The metal fell down and left him exposed.

"I want to do my duty."

"Your duty? I've never heard a more preposterous thing in all my life. You're just a fraud! The princess would only hold contempt for such a dishonored weakling -AH!"

The specter leaped forward, but then accidentally stepped on one of the bolts from the armor Jaune had smashed. Gliding at least five feet past the target and giving Jaune ample opportunity to recover.

"Your speculation is fraudulent, and the libel of your tongue deflects on my conscious," Jaune said as he prepared his offense. "I will take down both you and your hypocritical accusations."

"What do you mean boy?"

The cape fluttered widely behind it, as the specter sprung around. Ready to take him on.

"You speak like I want to steal her away, when I actually want to help her escape."

Then a quick attack from Jaune actually managed to take the specter aback.

"Is it not you who truly wants to possess? You have kept her locked in here for so long and all she wants is to be free."

Another rushed flick of his sword surprised the specter and even managed to tear a hole in the cape.

"She is not going to be freed by the likes of you. Only I can keep her safe." The specter retorted furiously.

"Lies! You act like you're not her jailer. Like you're not the cause of her misery. It is the truth, in reality, you're the architect of all her anguish!"

This time Jaune managed to deal a devastating blow with his sword crashing against its rapier with such force the blade was ripped out of the specters hand and thrown far behind it. He was just about to think he had won when the specter made a surprise move. Launching out with both hands, pulling his head as close to its mouth as possible and screaming at him in a peevish high-pitch voice.

"**HOW DENSE CAN YOU BE BOY?!"**

Being rattled so powerfully by such a surprisingly feminine voice caused Jaune to lose his footing. He staggered around discombobulated until he accidentally dropped his own sword down on the ground.

Then another shout was heard, but it was neither Jaune nor the specter. From another room sounded an alarm, followed by more shouting all around.

"Looks like our time is up. I better be going now." The specter hurried to pick up its blade and run, but Jaune was not ready to let it end just yet. He hurled himself at it, catching its arm and holding it tight.

"**WAIT! I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU ESCAPE!" **He yelled in desperate panic.

"So, I don't know who you are, but it had certainly been interesting to meet someone willing to fight for what they actually believe in. I mean, most people I encounter just tends to turn and flee as soon as they realize they can't win just by being a bully. You seem nice though, perhaps I might even feel guilty about this later."

"You mean feeling guilty about kidnapping a young woman and terrorizing the entire castle?" Jaune asked sarcastically.

"No, I mean feeling guilty about punching you in the face, silly." The specter said as it smashed its fists again Jaune's cheek.

The lights went out. Jaune stumbled onto the floor. More bells and whistles started to approach. He rummaged around on the ground until he finally felt his sword at hand. When he got up, only one solitary silhouette stood out amongst the shadows, and Jaune was not going to miss this ultimate opportunity to accomplish his quest.

"I'LL GET YOU FOR THAT!"

A loud noise echoed in the hallway as Jaune struck something heavy. It did not sound like a person or specter, but it sure made a racket. He was about to inspect the damage when multiple light beams suddenly penetrated the corridor.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" He could hear a guard shouting in the distance.

Jaune hurried out, only just getting a glimpse of his slain victim. On the ground laid the royal portrait of the princess Pyrrha, one deep cut tearing apart the canvas.


	7. Virtue and Weakness

"So, how do you spell fortuitousness again? Are there two or three o's in it?"

King Nikos meticulously poured over the book on his desk. The throne room had been cleared in preparation for the king's morning routine, and only his two most trusted advisers were permitted to accompany him. He needed the cold intellect of his best people in order to accomplish his most laborious duties.

"WELL, your majesty, I think it must begin like a fort, then an ut and an oss-ness. So, just one o." Admiral Port suggested.

"Are you sure about that? What do you have to say master Oobleck?"

"What I would say?" Oobleck looked up confused. "Well, I would have to say it depends on the context!"

"The context?" Repeated the king. "What do you mean by context?"

"Well, as some words mean the same but are spelled differently, while other words are spelled the same but mean different things, then context is a necessary fundament to understand the correct grammatical intonation. For a word like fortuoituousness to be spelled as it should, it is given, the context must be comprehended as it is, otherwise, nuance will predetermine our error."

"Don't be daft my dear master Oobleck." Port reprimanded him. "It is not about synonyms nor homonyms, there is not even a shadow of double-entendre. This is about the straightforward spelling of a straightforward word!"

"Yes, you're quite right admiral Port." The king affirmed. "That was a silly suggestion master Oobleck, I don't think I even believe you actually know how to spell it."

"No… I'm afraid not sire," Oobleck confessed.

"Well… I guess one of us must go look for a dictionary then." The king said as he closed the book with a deep sigh.

Next, after king Nikos had lost several rounds of rock-paper-scissor, it was finally decided that the one to fetch the mighty tome was to be settled through the drawing of random straws. His majesty was just about to draw the shortest in the bunch when a page boy poked his head in through the door.

"I'm sorry for my intrusion sire, I know how important you say these meetings are to be carried out undisturbed, but there are several men standing here outside demanding to see you now."

"Well, oh, never mind that, just fetch me a goddamn dictionary!" The king ordered, quickly throwing his chosen straw aside.

The page turned around, then the sound of a loud altercation reverberated from the outside. Muted bass tones, low-pitched and hushed murmurs. All tension abruptly culminated when the page boy was slammed through the door, sending him flying across the floor. A visceral display of force, the explosive overture was concluded with Cardin's entrance, surrounded by several goons all dressed in large black armor.

"**YOU WANT A DICTIONARY! ARE THERE SOME WORDS YOUR MAJESTY MAY HAVE FORGOTTEN?" **Cardin shouted. **"IS IT WORDS LIKE **_**TREASON**_** AND **_**BETRAYAL**_** WHICH MIGHT HAVE SLIPPED YOUR MIND?"**

He marched into the room, his squadron of plated clansmen taking up the seats reserved for the members of court.

"Why! It's the noble lord Cardin!" Erupted the shocked admiral.

"The noble lord Cardin?" The king yelled in disbelief. "It doesn't look like him at all!"

"I heard an **IMPOSTER** came and infiltrated your court yesterday!" Cardin retaliated. "An imposter that used to be in my service, but who now seems to have taken my place altogether!"

The king looked from admiral Port, to master Oobleck, to what looked like a much more aggressive and viler sir Cardin.

"Why that is inconceivable- oh wait." Then Nikos suddenly began to consider a great many things that suddenly started to make a lot more sense. "Wait, actually, yeah, no, it's not really that inconceivable, no, not at all."

* * *

"Virtue is Strength made-" Pyrrha turned the sword around and started reading the backside. "feeble by judgment."

Was it a warning or a condemnation? She stood alone in her chamber, only the birds chirping interfered with her solitude. The weapon had been severed from its history, but could the message still persist past its congealed philosophy? Virtue has brought her guilt; strength had brought her security. The judgment was still postponed.

"A new letter from Ruby has arrived!" The door suddenly burst open and Yang stormed inside, interrupting her moment of meditation. "And it says urgent too."

Pyrrha quickly threw a cloth on Jaune's sword and turned around to face her. She tried to conceal her anxiety, but it only made the mood somewhat awkward. It was routine, the same as it always had been for the past many years, but the feeling was different this time. She took the letter Yang had handed her and read it calmly by the window.

"Yang, can I just ask you-" Pyrrha said while absentmindedly going through the message. "Why did you say this guy seemed different?"

"What do you mean?"

"Last night, you said this guy seemed different, but you never explained why-"

"Yeah?"

"Now I want to know why you thought this guy seemed different."

"Well, I don't know. I guess he seemed more naïve and softer than the rest of the bunch." Yang hesitated; the emotion was complicated. "I guess I wasn't sure if he really deserved to be a part of this."

Pyrrha stared out the window. For the birds it must have been paradise- each flower blooming, each tree burgeoning with green leaves. Of course, she knew they were endangered by humans. A royal hunter could take one down for sport or even a stray poacher might attempt to procure a free dinner, but still, they were not ruled by anyone. Their nature was eternal and had so reclaimed Eden.

A loud knock on the door snapped her attention back to the present. A pair of armed guards made their entrance.

"We request the assistance of Captain Yang and the blessing to accompany princess Pyrrha to the grand hall. We are pursuing the fugitive who impersonated lord Cardin yesterday and intend to make him stand trial for his crimes."

"Ha, I didn't expect the real knight to turn up this quickly, but it looks like it's going down now." Yang clapped her hands together. "It might even mean we can wrap the whole thing up before lunch, right Pyrrha?"

Yang turned to Pyrrha who looked to be caught in deep and alarming thoughts.

Jaune had not been sleeping well.

After the confrontation with the specter, it was obviously given he was not going to find the way back that easily. He had wandered, drifted, roamed and finely given up. The place was enormous, the corridors covered thousands of miles and occupied nothing but darkness. It could only have been fortune that would reveal the passage to his room, but fortune remained persistently obtuse in this situation.

Instead, he was back in the rafters. Somewhere. Somewhere dirty, cold and claustrophobic. No warm and soft bed in sight, it started to feel like his greatest loss so far. Eventually, he managed to stumble upon a pile of hay. He had no idea where he was at this point, but since it was just before he was about to collapse from exhaustion, he figured it did not matter.

He failed to register how scratchy and rough it felt against his skin before he was already asleep and then he continued to be asleep until bright sunlight simmered in through the windows of the attic. Once at peace, his body now contorted slightly by the touch of this sharp aerial invader. At first, he remained limb, tempted to reject his consciousness, but was then fully awaken when a mighty sneeze overpowered him. Shooting his eyes wide open and igniting the thinking part of his brain.

"Bless you." A voice sounded from beyond the straw dune.

Jaune hurried to dig himself out of the stack and emerged while only looking slightly like a scarecrow. One small circular window stood wide open, and in that frame was one small head embedded in a wild orange hairdo.

"Nora! What are you doing here?" Jaune shouted.

"Oh, you know, getting breakfast and stuff." She held up a stuffed cotton bag. "I got cheese, bacon, more bread. Some apples and tomatoes. All in all, a much more successful expedition than yesterday."

"I'll say," Jaune said as he eyed just how big and full the bag looked, trying not to think hungry thoughts. "And how's Ren?"

"Ren says he's fine now, so I don't need to come here anymore." She actually sounded disappointed, for once. "I'm still going, of course, I don't wanna be apart from Pyrrha, but it's a drag hiding from him as well as the guards, you dig?"

"I bet, hey, if Ren doesn't need it, does it mean I could have an apple?"

"NO! This isn't some charity, steal your own stuff!"

"But I'm your new friend, remember?"

"Listen, pal, don't try to make this personal because I need this." Nora looked suspiciously from one side to the other, then from the inside to the outside. Leaning her head forward, she whispered in his ear. "But I can give you something you're actually going to need very soon."

"What, a toothbrush?"

"No, a good tip, listen!" Nora grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him closer with a force that seemed greater than her body should and could muster. With one arm wrapped around his head and with her index finger waggling around in his face, she was ready to share from the wealth of her experience.

"Okay, I know you're in for a rough time buddy, but don't worry, just do as I say, and it's all gonna drift past you easy-peasy. Alright, step one: When they come to arrest you, don't try to fight back. The guards have weapons like maces and clubs, and they can hurt you really bad if they get you in the right place."

"When they come to arrest me?" Jaune's vocals shut up an octave as all his concerns were now finally realized.

"YEAH! Next, okay, they're going to interrogate you and in that situation, you may be tempted to say something stupid like -_oh, what about my rights?- _Now, few know this, but you actually don't have any rights, so you're just going to look like a clown and nobody cares."

"They're going to interrogate me?" Repeating the sentence did not make it easier for Jaune to understand. He could only vaguely comprehend that the reckoning had already begun.

"YES, now listen, this is the most important part! Okay, okay, when the guy asks you _-so what have you been up to?-_ It's extremely, **EXTREMELY, **importantyou DON'T say _-doing your wife for the past five years-_. Got it?"

Nora concluded with a bright smile that could only exist outside the dangers he himself was about to face and gave him a slap on the shoulder.

"Alright friendo, I gotta dash now, but if you do everything I said, I'm sure we'll meet again in a 30-40 years' time, okay? Take care!"

She popped out again and disappeared down the roof. Jaune was about to leap after her, but the gap was too narrow for him. He could only watch the small girl escape down the walls and down the gargoyles. Down to become a dot amongst thousands of other small dots, in a labyrinth of small hedges and tiny little houses.

"IF THAT WAS NECESSARY ADVICE THEN HOW COME I'M STILL HUNGRY?!" He screamed into the miniature landscape.

"WHO'S THERE?" A loud voice answered his frustrated calls, but the question had already been altered and now emerged as a deform horror. Somewhere below the rafters, voices and footstep seemed to intensify, and their incoherent cacophony had started moving closer towards him.

"IS ANYBODY IN HERE?!" More loud voices started to yell all around. No exit would guarantee a safe passage for Jaune to flee through, so he had to resort to the third-best and second-most desperate option. Hiding. He dived into the hay again, covering his body entirely, and resolved to wait until everything was quiet again.

All sounds seemed for a moment to escalate between the highest and the lowest. Intense shouting, quiet whispering, commands and orders blaring through the air. In an instant, it seemed like the entire royal army was marching through, in the next, it was all silent. He had no idea what was happening outside his pile, but it seemed like chaos.

Minutes passed; was it soon quiet enough to be safe? Now only his rapid heartbeat disturbed the attic peace. Carefully, he lifted his head above the first layers of hay and saw a platoon of armed soldiers staring back at him. Each holding their breath and each with their weapons drawn at him.

In front of them stood yang, posing with a severely smug grin.

"Figured we'll find you sooner or later." She walked up to him and brushed a few straws out of his hair. "Now tell me, noble sir lord Cardin great knight- what have you been up to lately?"

* * *

The procession was a grand spectacle, a rare occasion of true significance. The house of the Winchesters and the royal court of King Nikos joined, for once, to sentence this impious and blasphemous renegade. Jaune had broken the law. The ceremony was not just meant to uphold justice, but to vindicate his punishment as well.

He was brought into the throne room by Yang and led by several members of the royal guard. Each wearing their own distinct formal uniform in red silk with golden stripes.

The gallery was packed, the floor was crowded. The scene was unprecedented, and the exceptional nature of the crime attracted the attention of everyone. For once, even nobles and magistrates had to mingle with each other, as space cluttered with many hundreds desperate for a glimpse of the trial.

Despite the commotion, no one dared to raise their voice, fearing that anything said by his majesty or the accused might be lost in the noise.

On a stone platform raised above the masses, the throne soared as an everlasting monument. The king was already seated and had Sir Cardin standing by his side. While Nikos looked grave and solemn, wicked pleasure was all Cardin exuded. His enjoyment of this moment was unashamed and blatant. He was going to make sure no one in the audience would ever forget the show they were about to watch. A good punishment is a study in popular education, and the people today was about to learn what happens when you upset your masters.

The doors closed. As the last board slammed against its frame, complete silence had overtaken the great hall. No one dared to even blink, no one dared to even breathe. In this hallowed moment, Pyrrha made her own entrance. Excusing her late arrival and sneaking her way up to her father. Her expression had only gotten gloomier, and it looked like she was still mostly entranced in her own wild speculations.

Only by her arrival acknowledged King Nikos the completion of the preliminaries and walked up to the center of the stage.

"Behold!" He began, but not with confidence. His tone faltered. "The accused has through heinous and despicable actions upset the laws of our kingdom. The noble sir Cardin has attested to the crimes he has not only witnessed but also suffered by. The grave misdeeds done to him is a blight recognized to be beyond reparation, and it is therefore I today invoke the sovereignty of my royal lineage, and proclaim justice will be restored-"

"Through death!" Cardin interjected loudly. "Justice will be restored through death!"

It was indescribable. A somber and pacifying sensation surged through Jaune's mind. He could not even protest under these conditions; the lion's fangs had already locked around him. Like the blood which would soon stream down his neck, his thoughts leaked into vapid, dejected nonsense. He knew the consequences would soon catch up to him, he had just hoped he would have achieved something before then.

He looked at Pyrrha, she was looking at him too. He had failed her, and she did not even know.

"Your name is Jaune?" Pyrrha suddenly got up and walked towards the edge of the platform. "Your real name is Jaune DeArc?"

He nodded.

"Do you still have your sword in your possession?"

She spoke bluntly. Determined. Her eyes were fierce, and the ardent passion of her spirit was palpable beyond the green luster in her eyes.

"Yes, I still have the sword."

"Why on earth do you still have that?!" Cardin almost had another fit. "That is my sword, you hand it over NOW!"

"Yes, this does seem like a breach of safety protocol." The king concurred. "Captain Yang, why didn't you confiscate the accused's weapon?"

Before Yang had a chance to answer, Pyrrha took the word again and shocked everyone with the boldness and audacity of her tone.

"Jaune DeArc, please raise your sword for all to see."

Spoken with such compulsive energy, Jaune obeyed without a second thought. He took the sword from his satchel and found it was now a silver rapier, instead of contemplating this change himself, he resorted to just obey the words of Pyrrha and held it aloft. In an instant, the entire room was transfigured into a semblance of heaven. The light reflected in the blade seemed too pure, too bright. It enveloped the room in an ethereal golden shine, the silver edge projecting wonders of colors and visions unto the ceiling and the walls.

The powers of the rapier he held seemed to be beyond the powers of any weapon crafted by humans. It was divine in effect; everyone was convinced by the miracle produced so effortlessly.

After having allowed the crowd to soak up the sight, Pyrrha continued.

"That is not your sword, master Jaune!" Her defiant act of stoic bravura was close to getting spoiled. An abundance of glee had intruded into her demeanor, and her voice had become tainted with joy. "It is the blade of the old kings, which before had been thought to be lost for so long."

Calmly and eloquently, Pyrrha unfolded the story to the court.

"Last night I was visited by the specter. The specter which has for so long cursed our family with misfortune and grief. It had been defeated. A man of immense capabilities had bested it in duel, and now its power over us has been broken. It revealed to me the man who came here as Sir Cardin would not reveal his true skills to anyone but the fiend, and now he has set us free. He took the specter's weapon as his conquest, and we can now all bask in the glory of his victory."

Time elongated in endowed moments of inspired prophesy as Pyrrha enthralled all. The audience felt enraptured by a privy tale disclosed with such scintillating flair.

"But although the specter was trounced, it told me it had not been vanquished completely. Despite Jaune's valiant effort, the entity is still with us. It is why we must offer him clemency, so he can stay with us. To secure peace, to secure prosperity, to secure ourselves. We will need the strength of master Jaune to keep us safe!"

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Cardin forcefully pushed her aside. "I don't know what all this talk of clemency and victories is about, I need to have my honor restored and have my corrupt servant executed for his crimes! I am, like the law, indifferent to whatever meager triumph he can accomplish with my stolen sword."

"But sir Cardin." King Nikos raised his hand in the air. "This man has performed a great feat for our kingdom. Not only is his talent for handling ghosts invaluable to us, we are now all in great debt to him and we should all display our gratitude and not condemn, yes, we should reward such heroic actions."

"What gratitude and rewards are you speaking off?" Cardin turned around with furry. "There is no justice in such egregious contempt for the privileged bestowed in my crest and name!"

"Sir Cardin." Pyrrha's voice was now filled with barely concealed disgust. "I don't think we have actually met before, but it is truly a pleasure to see how close you came to ruin my life. Now that I know you will never even come to lay your eyes on me ever again."

"You demon crimson wench!" Cardin boiled with fervent rage. He grabbed her wrist tightly and pushed her into his arms. "It looks like the punishment may have to start with you then!"

Cardin did not even get the chance to make another move before Jaune was on top of him. He leaped unto the platform and accumulated his velocity into one mighty punch to Cardin's jaw. It brought enough time for Pyrrha to evade his embrace, but Cardin soon recovered and countered the next attack.

"Good Jaune." Pyrrha cheered. "Just remember to use your whole body. You can do a lot of damage with slow punches if you just move around and stay sharp."

Cardin reached out with one long jab, but Jaune managed to dodge it and boxed him straight in his guts.

"Fantastic work Jaune," Yang screamed from the floor. "Just work on those small combos. 1-2-3 and dodge, it doesn't matter he's a little bigger, you can smash him easily!"

"Will you people shut up!" Cardin yelled. "I'm trying to do my duty and clean up this mess."

Jaune was on the offensive, he continued with a torrent of punches, but Cardin was on to him. He grabbed his arm, and it was only barely Jaune managed to wrestle away again.

"Back at it my boy!" King Nikos shook his fists in the air. "Up on your toes! Take it easy, 1-2 1-2 like captain Yang said. You can do it! Give him a real knuckle-sandwich, a REAL punch-out!"

Both Cardin and Jaune stopped to look at their anointed arbiter, but he was not the only one to adopt a manner of excited favoritism. Loud cheers and excited roars broke out with frequent applause throughout the masses. "Jaune", they shouted. They shouted his name with jubilant veneration. Over and over again, until the entire room echoed with cheers for him.

"I've had enough now of this bullshit." Cardin grabbed Jaune by his shirt and slowly lifted him off the ground. "It's time to settle things back into their natural order-"

Whatever rules and laws guided Cardin's version of the natural order would never come to be revealed. As soon as Jaune was captured, Pyrrha stepped up and kicked Cardin in the shins. He stumbled over with an infernal howl and dropped Jaune down on the floor, then while he was wobbling back and forth, Pyrrha caught his arm and spun him around in the air. Performing one grand somersault past her shoulders, he was flipped down to the ground and remained locked with his arm twisted behind his back.

"Now just tell your soldier friends you will be going now, and I swear, I'll make an attempt not to enjoy this," Pyrrha said as she tightened her grip, one immaculate and sweet smile adorning her cherry rose lips.

"M-mercy," Cardin begged while old memories of his military days obtruded into his pain. "Fine, it doesn't matter. I'll go!"

Pyrrha released her grip and Cardin immediately rolled over and hurried off the stage.

"Just keep him then! Keep your specter hunter or whatever! He was a lousy servant and a useless, USELESS, squire! I will never want to see him again! I never want to see you again! I never want to see anyone of you ever again!"

The black-clad soldiers he had brought with him followed suit. The doors opened for a brief moment, only to allow for their departure, and when they closed again it was all over.

"Yes, I think that is quite right." The king spoke loudly, reclaiming the attention from the squabble. He stood up and walked over to fetch the blade of the old kings. "This rapier. All along it had been in the service of the specter. It has been used against us for so many years, but it is all over now. Thanks to you."

He turned to Jaune.

"It seems obvious now you were never a knight. Too soft and humble to be of noble birth, but perhaps you have managed to become something else… Perhaps you were always something else." The king handed him the rapier, and Jaune took it into his hands. "A royal specter hunter? In any case, I'm sure a man with the qualities that my daughter speaks of would be of great use to us."

Wild applause broke out amongst the crowd. Pyrrha smiled at him, Yang gave him a thumbs up. He studied the blade, the long curlicues of elaborate patterns chiseled along the edges. It was a beautiful weapon, but not one he was familiar with.


	8. Epilogue

"And more letters from the eastern plains." Jaune said as he placed a bundle of tattered envelopes on the king's desk. "The Winchester matriarch apologizes for any inconvenience caused by her son and hopes to establish keen relations again soon."

"That's fine my boy." Nikos skimmed through the messages briefly before placing them atop his neatly stacked pile of paperwork. "I'll answer her later today, but I'm glad it looks like we will be able to tie this whole affair up in an amicable manner."

"It sure is! and here's the dictionary you ordered, sire." Jaune said as he dropped the mighty book down on the king's desk, to such turbulent effect all neatly stacked piles of letters, books and ledgers all immediately collapsed and scattered across the large study.

"Thank you Jaune." The king said in a dry tone while trying to remain stoic. "I think that would be all for today."

"Really?" Jaune said excitedly.

"Yes, except for my daughter, she said she would like to see you on the plain around noon. So, I suggest you go meet her."

"Alright sire. I will go to her at once, see you later tonight!"

Jaune hurried out, slamming the door behind him, making sure just to rattle what was not already strewn across the floor. The king sighed deeply, not quite relieved for being rid of Jaune, but appreciating that no further devastation could be added to the mess. He got up and walked to the window, where he could see Pyrrha, Yang and Nora already preparing for this morning's activities.

Letting one eyebrow sharply curve upwards, the king allowed himself to doubt the meaning of this new order established by his daughter. No matter the manner or the guidance, the result would surely become a spectacular sight. Whatever form of surreptitious coup she had planned, she seemed to devote herself to its completion.

The large green field sheltered by murky grey stone columns was a desired stretch of pure nature, tamed and converted into precise hexagons, quadrangles and even ellipse circles. Boisterous hyacinths and hydrangea gave bright colors to the plain, as well as sweet and alien smells to intoxicate those standing too close to their hive of minuscule flowers. Rose bushes were a popular and common enjoyment, but prickly for anyone who dared to pick them up. Small fruit trees were a blessing in the summer when the gift they bestowed from their branches ripened, and could be picked up and eaten as is. A stone path led straight to the center, where a small terrace was built around a gazebo. Pyrrha was currently occupied with chalking the tiles as precisely as she could.

"So, I gotta say Pyrrha, you really pulled it off quite brilliantly yesterday, I have never pegged you for such a storyteller."

Yang reclined on a bench while watching her work. Pyrrha muttered some reply, but her focus was devoted to her hands, not the conversation.

"I guess this means things are gonna be different now. Nope. No way back, as they say." Yang stopped and looked up for a moment. It was difficult to persist with your own concerns when the sky just remained so ardently bright and blue. "No way back for any of us…" She trailed off.

"Well, I don't care about going back if I can stay here with Pyrrha... and also have Ren and all the others join us" Nora squeaked as she jumped on Pyrrha to give her a hug, causing both girls to trip over each other and ruining what would otherwise have been a perfect right angle of chalk lines.

"Ha ha, I'm glad for your concerns but…" Pyrrha's eyes wandered towards the garden cloister where a set of blond hair peeked out between the columns. "I guess I've always wanted things to change some way or another."

Yang followed her eyes, realizing their moment of contemplation soon would be interrupted. "Dang Pyrrha, you choose an odd time to go sentimental, but it's your choice so I guess I'll hush my mouth." She stood up and brushed off some dust from her dress. "That boy sure does keep his strength in his heart and his flaws on his sleeve, but if that is what you want what can I do but support you?"

"He sure can't steal; I know that much." Nora squeaked again.

Pyrrha laughed, she closed her eyes and inhaled the moment. It was a moment she could be happy in, feel relaxed and content. Fresh air, the sun warming her skin, her friends with all their strange meanings and opinions. When she opened her eyes, she found Jaune walking up to them, shy and a bit embarrassed.

"So… uhm… The king said you wanted to see me?"

"Correct, though I would have preferred if you came on the time I had instructed." Pyrrha crossed her arm while slightly raising her head, making sure her pose had the right audacity to be imposing.

"I'm sorry, but I had to help your father with work and master Oobleck have also become increasingly persistent in regard to those Latin recitals-" Jaune sheepishly apologized.

"Ooof" Yang's distinct irreverence cut through the conversation clear enough to be noted by both of them.

"…So I had to be rather sneaky, making my way out."

"I see." Pyrrha concluded. She glanced back at Yang and Nora, given them the signal it was time for them to leave.

"Well, I'll see you later Pyrrha, hope you have a great time with Prince fraud here as we'll be in the mess hall." Yang said as she picked up Nora and threw her over her shoulders, the young girl squirming and resisting her best.

"I swear you people are all so mean all the time! I just got here! What about my rights? I got rights too you know?! Rights to be with Pyrrha!" The small girl loudly proclaimed as she was being carried away.

"We'll be done soon; we can play afterwards!" Pyrrha yelled back as they disappeared inside. She waved her hand for a brief second, then she turned her full attention towards Jaune.

"So, what was it you wanted to do?" Jaune asked, curious and uncertain.

"Did you bring that rapier… the blade of the kings?" Still not ready to reveal everything, Pyrrha extended the suspension of the chord struck by the garden greens and the weeping winds with her own mystery. From the dark shadows passed by the columns of the cloister to the neat arrangements of flowers and pastures, it was a tone set in recluse solace.

"Yes, as by the request of the specter, I was allowed to keep it, right?" Jaune continued in uneven attempts to figure out what the purpose was.

She did not answer him immediately. She went inside the small gazebo where she produced a brown leather etui. Carrying it with natural dignity and with her unintentional expression of grace, she proceeded to open it in front of him and unveil the sword of the Winchesters.

Jaune did at this point realize everything, but he remained silent. They were both quiet for a minute.

"I know… the specter said you could keep it…" Pyrrha then began. "But I will propose a trade…"

"I Agree." Jaune said very clear and without hesitation.

The squire took back the sword and the princess took back the rapier. First, they looked at their respective instruments of silver and steel, the straight shapes and sharp contours. The craftsmanship in the art and the intention of death in their respective execution were now conflicting philosophies.

Then they looked at each other, earnestly.

"Do you know how to swing it?" Pyrrha suddenly asked Jaune.

"Sure." Jaune replied as he struck one quick blow that spun him around.

"Can I see that again?" She said, walking closer to him.

"Alright." Jaune said as he did another strike.

"Again-" Pyrrha requested and Jaune complied quickly. Though this time, when Jaune was about to swing his sword past Pyrrha, she gave him a mighty push that toppled him over and sent him flying into the grass.

Why did you do that?" Jaune complained from the ground.

"Because your footwork was off and not giving you any stability." Pyrrha said, kneeling down and offering her hand to help him up again, which Jaune accepted with as much grace as he could put into his disheveled state. "I… I'm not sure I understand…"

"You need a proper stance if you want to swing that thing the way you do… and even so I wouldn't recommend it. Your balance is off and you're putting an awfully lot of weight on it, considering how heavy it already is." Pyrrha explained while demonstrating with her own rapier. "Now, if you take your place over there I'll show you some techniques to make it easier for you."

"You're going to show me some techniques for improving my sword fighting abilities?" Jaune was both shocked but also genuinely curious about how this completely had turned his situation around.

"Yes." Pyrrha said to begin her new life.

* * *

Author's Note

I'm sure those of you who used to follow this story now would wonder why this sudden "epilogue" comes about a year after the last update, though this have always been a part of my plan, it was put on hold after the original completion of the script. This story was originally supposed to be a part of an "arkos celebration event" held by a friend on Tumblr, however, as this person suddenly did disappear for a while, leaving the event canceled, I had little motivation to complete this addition. Though rest assured my friend is back in good health, I was still too occupied to go back, but recently it got into my mind to set up a sfw account on AO3, so I uploaded the same version there and finally did finish this conclusion. I'm kinda sorry I did not do so earlier, as it does bring all the meta elements together in a much better way.

Best regards to all of you know who left positive reviews and gave constructive criticism along the way, I really do appreciate it.


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